This painted clay figurine with its exaggerated features is characteristic of the Neolithic culture known as Halaf (circa 6000 to 5100 BC).

This culture, originally from the regions of Syria and southern Mesopotamia, was the successor of the cultures of Hassuna and Samarra, and was marked by the resurgence in the use of circular dwellings.

The small Halafian villages drew their sustenance from grain-growing and various forms of animal husbandry.

Above all, however, the Halaf culture was characterized by the production of painted ceramics.

These were of remarkable quality, due the variety of their shapes as well as the richness of their polychrome decoration, which was both geometric and naturalistic.

In addition to ceramics, the culture also produced female figurines like the ones you see in the display case.

The figure is depicted nude and in a seated position, arms wrapped around the breasts, in a position similar to that of childbirth.

Brown lines are painted on the body. Although the head is very falis represented, and the hands and feet are absent, the figure's female attributes — its thighs and breasts — are quite delineated.

The emphasis laid on these characteristics clearly suggests the representation of a fecundity principle in the form of a female, "mother-goddess"-type figure. Such a figure, the guarantor of life's regular renewal, surely played a major role in society that was based on the production of natural resources.